The Saarhütte Association (VDS), together with the employees and the state government, appealed to the federal government on Steel Action Day to receive faster funding as part of the green steel transformation in Saarland.
The Association of Saarhütten (VDS) is an association of companies in the steel industry in Saarland as well as Buderus Edelstahl GmbH in Hesse and Badische Stahlwerke GmbH in Baden-Württemberg. On Steel Action Day, they took to the streets together with the employees - around 13,000 people in Saarland - and campaigned for the preservation of the Saarland steel industry.
“The Saarland steel industry is on the direct path to climate-neutral steel production. However, it needs support in the green transformation of its steel production. We're running out of time. We now need quick decisions at the political level, be it the introduction of a bridge electricity price or the promotion of the restructuring of steel production in Saarland. We want both: to produce steel in a climate-neutral manner and to secure people’s jobs through a sustainable and competitive steel industry,” says Heiko Maas, President of the Saarhütte Association.
For Saarland it is about more than just the steel industry. The transformation of the Saarland steel industry will create the conditions to build a regional and cross-border hydrogen economy. Investments in the production of hydrogen and a hydrogen infrastructure will only take place if there is sufficient demand for hydrogen in the region. This is guaranteed by the Saarland steel industry. In doing so, it is significantly driving forward the development of a regional and European hydrogen economy.
